LISTICLE
Follow UsBen Duckett
After a terrific season for Northamptonshire in 2016, where Ben Duckett slammed 1,338 runs at 60.81, including a career-best of 282*, he was drafted to the England side for the tour of Bangladesh, which even took him by surprise, given that he had got runs in Division Two.
"It was a little bit of a surprise. Everyone has been saying all summer that you can't play for England in Division Two, so it's very nice that the selectors have looked past that,” he had said after his call-up.
At 22, he played four Tests, two against Bangladesh and two more against India, averaging just 15.71. He was banished from the England side and found his way back only after Brendon McCullum took over as the head coach in 2022.
As it turned out, the southpaw fit right into the attacking brand of cricket McCullum wanted to instil. Post his return, the left-hander has slammed 1,196 runs at 46.73, striking at close to 90. He has also hammered four hundreds and 10 fifties in this period and has transformed into one of the best openers in the world, across conditions, evident by him getting tons in India, Pakistan & England while averaging close to 40.00 in New Zealand.
Usman Khawaja
Usman Khawaja’s Test career did not start off well. In his debut year in 2011, he slammed just one fifty in 11 innings, averaging just 29.22. He returned two years later, but once again, he did not find his feet, managing just 119 runs at 19. However, when he returned in 2015, he slammed three tons in as many Tests that year – two against New Zealand and one against West Indies – to make a mark for Australia finally. He continued to pile on the runs, but he was eventually dropped after a poor show in 2019 after he scored just 211 runs in 11 innings that year.
However, he returned to the fold in 2022, slammed a double ton in the Sydney Test against England and never looked back. After that Test, he was promoted to open the innings and he's since piled on 2,326 runs at 49.48, scoring five centuries and 12 fifties in 28 Tests. He formed an excellent partnership with David Warner at the top in his second coming as an opener, and the 37-year-old will perhaps now go down as one of Australia’s finest.
Chris Rogers
Chris Rogers made his debut for Australia in 2008 at the age of 31 and went on to play 25 Tests for Australia. However, it wasn’t smooth. After his debut, he didn't play another Test for five years. It was in the 2013 Ashes that he made his return and there Rogers finished the series with 367 runs at 40.77. This proved to be a turning point for the left-hander, who went on to have a productive career, forming an excellent partnership with Warner at the top.
The duo scored 535 runs at 43.75 at the top after Rogers’ return and were involved in a couple of fifty and century stands.
Rogers eventually finished his Test career with an average of 42.87, smashing five tons in total.
Hashim Amla
South Africa batter Hashim Amla had his fair share of setbacks, but there was a period between 2010 and 2014 where he hit a purple patch. In this period, he scored over 4,000 runs at an average of 65.62, which included 16 tons and 13 fifties.
He scored daddy hundreds in this period, which included his career-best of 311* against England at The Oval. His other big scores included 253* vs India in Nagpur, 196 vs Australia in Perth, 139* vs Sri Lanka in Colombo and 208 vs West Indies at the Centurion.
However, it did not start off all that well for Amla. Making his debut in November 2004, Amla managed only 62 runs in his first six innings in Test cricket, after which he was dropped.
In his first nine Tests, he managed just 382 runs at 22.47, and while he slowly showed improvement, he never managed to reach the highs he reached later on in his career. The Amla post 2007, however, turned out to be a completely different beast.
He eventually finished as South Africa’s second-highest run-getter in Tests, with 9,282 runs at 46.64. He finished with 28 tons, the most behind Jacques Kallis (45).
Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma slammed two tons in his first two Tests against West Indies in Kolkata and Mumbai, but his Test career took a massive dip from then. He batted in the middle-order, and that found him very little success. Before he started opening in Test cricket, Rohit averaged under 40 and had just three tons in 47 innings.
However, as a last throw of the dice to help Rohit realise his potential in Test cricket, the management decided to get him to open, and his career skyrocketed after that. He slammed twin hundreds in his first Test as opener and since that move to the top, Rohit has slammed 2,596 runs at 46.35, and has hit nine hundreds and seven fifties in 35 Tests.
His rise was so phenomenal that he was named Test captain in 2022.
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Hayden’s legendary career for Australia could not have reached the pinnacle it did, had he not been determined and persistent enough. He made his debut in 1994, and till 2000, he played only 12 Tests. In this period, he slammed 528 runs at 26.40 and slammed just a solitary century in 20 innings. For a three-year period between March 1997 and March 2000, Hayden did not play a single Test and was dropped from the side altogether.
However, after his return to the side in 2000, the left-hander averaged 63.22 (2001), 72.50 (2002), 77.17 (2003) in the next three years, hitting as many as 16 tons. Overall, 2001 onwards, Hayden scored over 8,000 runs at 54, and hit as many as 29 tons.
It was the tour of India in 2001 that proved to be pivotal. He slammed 119 in Mumbai and 203 in Chennai. But more importantly, he employed the sweep shot to good effect, and he started blossoming all over the world after that breakthrough series.
If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out on our content — big time. Download the App here
